In just 25 years, India has gone from having two to three palliative care centers to having nearly 400, or so claimed Hamilton Inbadas, associate researcher at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies of the University of Glasgow and member of Glasgow End of Life Studies Group, during a seminar hosted by the ATLANTES program of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at the University of Navarra.

Professor Inbadas noted that, while this field is growing in the country, as evidenced by the fact that it has obtained approval as a medical specialty by the Medical Council of India, "it still has a long way to go."

In this regard, he argued that the main problem is that India has no comprehensive health coverage system like the UK or Spain: "Some European countries are very close to the full integration of palliative care into their public health program. In India, NGOs and other organizations provide palliative care for very poor patients; its integration into national health coverage is still a distant dream."

Spiritual care and communication are key elements

The specialist was speaking at the seminar entitled Facing Death and Rediscovering Spirituality: Exploring Historical Traditions to Inform a Model of Spiritual Care for Palliative Care Practice in India, which brought in experts from the fields of medicine, nursing, sociology, and psychology.

When speaking, Hamilton Inbadas stressed the importance of spiritual care for patients with advanced and terminal disease, saying, "They are dealing with the end of their lives, a situation that strongly impacts patients' psychology and spirituality." He added that confronting it "is a huge challenge for both the patient and for his family."

Finally, Inbadas emphasized that fluid communication is very important and that it must be done with tact." All patients should have the opportunity to find out what they should know, as well as express their thoughts and feelings," he stressed. In this regard, he referred to the careful use of words and silences: "These two elements are very important, but listening is what is really essential for communicating with a patient."